汉加:揭示骗子常用的手法,信用卡公司防诈骗的建议。
Prepaid credit card scams on rise, Canadians losing millions
加拿大广播公司记者Sophia Harris报道,最近关于
预付卡Prepaid credit card
的诈骗案增多。在超市里就可以买到的预付卡,给骗子提供了一个快捷且易于隐藏的诈骗途径。骗子喜欢预付信用卡的原因之一就是快。一旦受害者将密码告诉骗子后,骗子就可以把钱转到另一张卡上,谨慎的骗子还会再转几次,以隐藏踪迹。

从去年年初以来,加拿大反欺诈中心接到1330起投诉,平均每天2到3起,涉及金额超过3百万加元,可只有5%的受害者向他们提出投诉,这些数字只是冰山一角。
案例一------假冒亲人出车祸
安大略省温莎市的一对老年夫妇不久前被骗走16500加元。一个假称是他们的儿子的人打来电话,说自己在多米尼克共和国(Dominican Republic)出了车祸。接下来“律师”和“警察”先后登场,称他们的儿子已经被指控刑事罪名,他们必须用Visa预付卡支付有关费用,否则儿子就会被送进监狱。这对慌了神的年迈父母依照骗子的指示买卡充值,交出了密码。在一个小时内,卡上的钱就被转走了。
案例二------假称税局追税款
托米克一位住在安省基奇纳市的女性亲属被骗走了5000多加元。当时她正因报税的事跟加拿大税务局交涉,突然有一天就接到了“税务官”的电话。托米克的这位亲属遇到的骗子段数更高:他能说出税务局向她催讨的准确数目,而且知道她和税务局之间的争执。她因此没有怀疑对方的身份。
假税务官说,如果她不马上付清税款就会被逮捕。而最方便的付款方法就是去买几张Visa预付卡,然后打电话把密码告诉他,最后把预付卡寄到税务局去。托米克认为,寄卡只是个让骗局看起来更可信的障眼法。实际上只要密码一透露,卡上的前就马上被转走了。
相比之下抢银行累
警方的记录和加拿大反欺诈中心的统计是吻合的。目前预付卡诈骗案件大幅度增加。一个名叫盖瑞.托米克的受害者亲属说,他明白为什么骗子喜欢预付卡,“来钱太容易,比去抢银行容易多了。” 像一个又轻便又不怕扒手的钱包一样好用,钱很难再追回。
信用卡公司和代售商家表示爱莫能助
托米克希望发售预付卡的公司能够采取一些措施来帮助顾客防止这类骗局,例如规定预付卡在售出后要过24小时才能激活。但Visa信用卡公司说,让客户可以立刻使用正是预付卡提供的方便之一。加拿大预付卡发售者组织的负责人大卫.伊森则表示,并不是只有预付卡可以被用于诈骗,所有的付款卡都是有风险的。
托米克也希望,即使商家不能停止代售预付信用卡,至少能够设立一些关卡,例如对顾客买卡或充值的金额设限。他的受骗亲属是在基什纳的两家Sobeys超市买的预付卡。Sobeys 公关人员告诉记者,该公司已经加强了反诈骗的措施,但不能透露这些措施的细节。
Visa等信用卡公司的建议
•记住预付卡和你口袋里的现金无异。永远不要向任何人透露充值号码或密码。如果有人在电话中要你的预付卡密码,不论对方声称自己是谁,立刻挂断,并向你的信用卡公司举报骗局。
•不要用预付卡交税款,保释金等费用。
•拒绝任何必须用预付卡付费的产品或服务。
•定期检查账户的收支记录。
•了解目前流行的行骗手法。

延伸阅读:英文原文
Fraudsters have found a quick, convenient, and easy-to-disguise way to swindle cash out of unsuspecting Canadians: they demand their victims pay up using prepaid credit cards.
"The [financial] loss is just incredible. There's just so much of this happening," says Robert Rochefort with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Sometimes scammers call saying you owe money to the tax man and if you don't pay now, you're going to jail. Another scenario: your son was in a car accident and if you don't send money immediately, he's going to jail.
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Then they instruct their victims to pay via prepaid cards, a type of credit card with a set amount of funds that are purchased in stores and used for transactions like buying goods online and paying bills.
Fraudsters direct victims to give them the numbered codes on the cards, giving them access and — poof — the money is gone.
Scams swamp police
'You can continuously transfer [funds] from one card to another card to another card to hide your trail'- Robert Rochefort, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
Windsor, Ont., police report prepaid card frauds have surged over the past two years. "We're dealing with it on a constant basis," says Const. Robert Durling of the department's fraud unit.
He says just weeks ago, an elderly couple was scammed out of $16,500. They got an alarming call from someone posing as their son, claiming he'd been in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.
Then people impersonating a lawyer and a police officer took the phone, stating the son had been charged with criminal negligence.
The couple was told they needed to immediately send money via prepaid Visa Pivot cards to cover costs and keep him out of jail. The criminals instructed them to provide the numbered codes on the back of the cards.
"That's why [scammers] like these cards. It's quick. In this case, they money was transferred within an hour, it was gone," says Durling.
Scammers cover tracks fast
Fraud analyst Rochefort explains that once fraud artists gain access to the cards' codes, they are able to move the funds to another card, making it difficult to follow the money.
"You can continuously transfer [funds] from one card to another card to another card to hide your trail," he says.
Rochefort notes that since the beginning of 2014, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received 1,330 complaints from victims of prepaid card scams. The financial loss totals more than $3 million.
He cautions the statistics are just a drop in the bucket because only about five per cent of victims actually contact the centre.
The CRA prepaid card scam
'It's easy money, a lot easier than robbing a bank'- Gary Tomic, relative of victim
"I understand why the fraudsters do it. It's easy money, a lot easier than robbing a bank," says Gary Tomic.
A few weeks ago, a close relative of Tomic's in Kitchener, Ont., lost more than $5,000 in a prepaid card scam. CBC News is withholding the victim's name for privacy reasons.
Tomic's relative was resolving a dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency when she suddenly got a call from someone impersonating a CRA agent.
He informed her she owed tax money — the exact amount that the real CRA had said she owed. He also somehow knew about her correspondence with the agency.
Because the caller had personal details, the relative found the scam believable. The fraudster also threatened her, stating "unless you pay it right now, you're going to be arrested," explains Tomic.
His relative was then directed to pay the debt with prepaid PayPower Visa cards. After purchasing more than $5,000 in cards, she was instructed to call the fraudster back and provide the card numbers. She then had to mail the cards to what appeared to be a CRA address.
Tomic believes mailing the cards was just a stunt to make the scam appear legitimate. Once the scammers got the cards' numbers over the phone, "boom, they emptied [them] immediately."
Who's responsible?
A frustrated Tomic wants more controls to help prevent this type of scam. He'd like to see a 24-hour wait period before prepaid cards can be activated.
Visa told CBC News in an email that such a feature wouldn't fly because "the immediate access to funds is part of the convenience that customers want in prepaid cards."
Visa also said that it offers "a layered approach to security that helps protect the payment cardholders." But the company added that "cardholders also need to be wary of fraud" and protect their card information.
David Eason, chair of the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization, said in a statement that the potential for scams exists with all payment products and that "the prepaid industry works consistently to combat that fraud."
Tomic also wants retailers to take some responsibility such as limiting how much customers can spend on cards. "I'm not sure why they're even selling it when it's so ripe for fraud," he adds.
Tomic's relative bought her cards at two Sobeys grocery stores in Kitchener. Sobeys tells CBC News it has been in touch with Tomic and "regrets" what happened to his relative.
Spokeswoman Vicki Leung said in an email that as a result of the growing fraud, "our stores have enhanced their processes" to help combat the scam. She added she couldn't give details because that would tip off fraudsters.
Tomic has decided the best he can do now is create awareness by telling his family's story so that other victims might be spared.
"It's not likely we'll get any [money] back here, it's more, how do we help others so they don't have to experience this."

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